Lipsey struck down a traffic-control order the township established last year as a way to regulate truck traffic from a gravel pit in Alamo Township.

The judge, however, left the current truck route in place until May 1 to give the township time to appeal.

The ruling is part of an ongoing lawsuit Oshtemo has against the county road commission.

The KCRC stepped in to settle a dispute with neighboring Alamo and Kalamazoo townships and voided Oshtemo Townhip's truck route ordinance in May 2009.

The township sued the KCRC in June 2009 and established a traffic control order, which confirmed the truck routes, in April 2010.

Oshtemo Township Attorney James Porter said the law giving the road commission authority to settle the dispute falls under the state Motor Vehicle Code, while the traffic control order falls under the Uniform Traffic Code.

He contended that the township has a separate and distinct authority with the traffic control order that the road commission does not have.

Lipsey struck down the township's traffic control order, finding that traffic control orders are governed by the Motor Vehicle Code.

Lipsey will hold another hearing in April to listen to arguments on the separate issue of the township's truck route ordinance.

In the meantime, Porter said the truck route remains in place until May 1 to give all parties time to consider the ruling.

Porter said the township board will schedule a time to meet and decide whether to appeal the ruling. Porter said if the board has not met by its next scheduled meeting, April 12, the board will decide whether to appeal at that meeting.

The legal dispute arose after Aggregate Industries, the owner of a gravel pit near G Avenue and 10th Street in Alamo Township, sued Oshtemo Township over its truck route ordinance. Aggregate says the ordinance hinders access to its gravel pit.

Oshtemo Township set the truck route, which directs trucks west on G Avenue to Sixth Street, to divert truck traffic from Ninth and 10th streets, Porter said.

After a new state law gave county road commissions the authority to settle disputes between townships over border roads, the KCRC stepped in to address Alamo and Kalamazoo townships' claims that Oshtemo's ordinance forced truck traffic into their townships.

Aggregate's case is on hold until Oshtemo's suit against the road commission is decided.